Distributer for sand or the like.



W. HUBER.

DISTBIBU'IEB. FOR SAND OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 24, 1910.

Patented Aug. 8, 1911 2 SHEETS-iSHEET L 6 y 53 M J r? :1;- L 10 H 111: .=-.=r --:-A 201 W. HUBER. DISTRIBUTER FOR SAND OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 24, 1910.

1,000,004, Patented Aug. 8, 1911.

2 SHEETS-$313111 2.

Iv! v 7l iZiwJJeJt-- 24 I 172F612???- WERNER HUBER, OF SIHLBRUGG, SWITZERLAND.

DISTRIBUTER non SAND OR THE LIKE? Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1911.

Application filed August 24, 1910. Serial No. 578,695.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, WERNER HUBER, a citizen of the Republic of Switzerland, residing at Sihlbrugg, Switzerland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Distributers for Sand or the Like; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full. clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of my invention is an improved distributer for sand, gravel, seed or other material, whereby it is scattered in a plane lying at right angles to the direction of travel of the vehicle on which the distributer is mounted, instead of being distributed as heretofore at merely an angle to the ground. hen the distributer, mounted on a cart, is

employed for instance for sanding busy streets, no obstruction is caused, since footpassengers and vehicles or the like, whether in front or behind the cart are not struck by the sand, and the material which is thrown in a. lateral direction can be readily deflected by adjustable flaps or the like, which enable the distribution to be interrupted without the distributer having to be stopped.

The distribnter may consist for example of two distributing-wheels, which rotate in the direction toward each other, from above downward, in a plane located substantially at right-angles to the direction of travel. lfrictiomgearing is provided for-transmitting to the distributing-wheels the motion of devices on the vehicle-frame, set in operation by the advance of the cart, and by means of this gearing the velocity of rotation of the distributing-wheels can be altered quite independently of the speed of travel of the cart. This can be done, for instance, by connecting the shafts of the distributing-wheels by a crossed belt, and by mounting a friction-wheel on each shaft, each wheel, independently of the other one, being capable of being brought into engagement with a friction-wheel mounted on an auxiliary shaft set in rotation by the cart as it travels along the road.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a motorcar"and.-a longitudinal vertical section of a sand distrib'uter mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail cross section on line A-A of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the wheel, and its holder, for driving the distributor mechanism. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 13-13 of Fig. 8. Fig. 5 is a cross section on line'C-C of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a rear elevation and part section of the distributor. Fig. 7 shows the feed wheels and certain cooperating mechanism, drawn on a larger scale. 7,

1 designates a trough or hopper-shaped receptacle for the sand or other material to be distributed, divided by a roof-like partition 2 into an upper and a lower compartment. The sides of the partition 2 present each three openings 3, closable by slides 4. The slides on the two sides are connected in pairs to two cross-bars 5.

6 designates a stepped shaft mounted at the top of the receptacle 1, and with this shaft the cross-bars 5 are connected by means of steel cords or the like. The crossbars of the rear pair of slides are connected with the thin part of the shaft 6, and those of the front pair of slides with the thick part thereof, while those of the central pair of slides are connected with the middle part of the shaft. The steel cords of each preceding pair of slides are longer than those of the succeeding. pair, corresponding with the diameter of the shaft, so that on rot-ation of the shaft 6 by means of a spider wheel 8, located above the operators platform 7 the pairs of slides can be elevatedv in succession from the rear forward.

In the bottom compartment of the hopper 1 there is mounted a screw-conveyor 9, and at the back of this compartment there is an exit 10, closable by means of two flaps or shutters 11, each,of which can be operated separately by means of lever mechanism 12, located at the operators platform. Below the exit 10 two feed-wheels 13, 14 are mounted in a bearing-bracket 15 secured to the easing. On, theshaft of the feed-wheel 13 (Figs. 6 and 7) there is mounted a frictionwheel 16, and on the shaft of the feed-wheel 14 there is a friction-wheel 17, while on a separate shaft 18 there is mounted an intermediate friction-wheel 19, which is in engagement with the wheel 17. Beneath the pair of feed-wheels, and in the same 'olane as the friction-wheel 16, there is mounted, a friction-wheel 20, on the shaft 20 of which there is also a belt pulley 21.

2,3 designates a strap passed around the pulley 21 and a pulley 22 mounted on the conveyer-shaft.

25 designates a lever fulcrumed to a fixed pin 24 projecting from the bearing-bracket 15. The-lever 25 is slotted and receives the sliding bearing-block 26 of the shaft of a pair of intermediate wheels 27, 28. Acting on the bearing 26 inside the slot of the lever 25, there is a helical spring 29 which depresses the wheels 27, 28; and since the wheel 27 lies in the same plane as the wheel 20, the wheel 27 will be forced against the latter, provided that there is. nothing to obstruct shifting'of the wheels 27, 28. The lever 25 is connected by the rods'30, 31 and bent lever 32 with a control lever 33, accessi-' ble from the operators platform. By throwing over the lever 33, the lever 25 can be turned from the one end-position, in which the wheels 20', 27 and 16 are in engagement into the other end-position, in

which the wheels 28 and 19 engage. On the shafts of the feed-wheels 13, 14 there are mounted belt-pulleys 34, 34, over which there runs a crossed belt 35.

25 designates a: stationary member, having an elevated rest, which lies in the path of the bearing-block 26 and the purpose of said stationary member is to lift the wheel 27 from the wheel 20 when the control-lever 33 is in its central position. I

In a bearing-bracket 36 (Fi .1) secured to the hopper 1, is journaled tie shaft of a chain-pulley 37. The shafts of the two members 20, 37 are connected by a universal articulated coupling 38. The shaft of the pulley 37 has on its front end the one half of an articulated coupling. Above the pulley 37 there is a second chain-pulley 39, mounted on a shaft journaled in the bracket 36' and this latter shaft also has at its front end the one half of an articulated coupling. A chain runs over the two pulleys 37, 39.

The above described mechanism is employed in connection with the device shown in Figs. 35. This latter consists of a guide 40, in which there slides in vertical direction a holder 41. This holder has an upper boxshaped part, through which there extends a vertlcal rod 42 and a transverse bar 43,

' which latter passes through slots in the walls of the holder. Between the bar 43 and the base of the top part there is a helical sprlng 44, coiled around the rod 42. The bottom part of the holder 41 is forked and there is journaled on it a wheel 45 having a ribbed felly. On the axle of this wheel there is mounted a bevel-gear 46, with which there meshes a second bevelgear 47, the shaft of which is secured to the holder. To the shaft of the gear 47 there is jointed a vertical shaft 47, the upper end vof which is of hexagonal form in cross-section. This end passes through the wheel 48 of miter-wheel gearing 48, 49 secured to the guide 40. The central portion of the box of the hub of the wheel 48 is of the section of the shaft end, while toward the ends it is larger than the shaft.- In this manner the the case of the motor-car shown in Fig. 1,

the central part of the vehicle is removed and in its place the sand-hopper with con veying, distributing and transmission mechanisms, is bolted to the car-frame. Hereupon the operating mechanism is laterally fixed by means of the guide 40, and the miter-gearing 48, 49 with the chain-gearing 39 connected by means of the rod 50, and

finally a cord 51 secured to the rod 42 of the holder 41, and passed around a roller 52 mounted on the guide and around another roller 53 mounted on the hopper and attached to one end of the lever 55 (Fig. .6) fu'lcrumed on the pivot 54 at the rear wall of the platform.

\Vhen it is desired to use the apparatus the slides 4 and the shutters 11 are closed, the control lever 33 set in its central position, the wheel 45 raised from the ground by throwing over the lever 55, sand or other material filled into the hopper, and the vehicle driven to the place of work. To commence sanding, the operator opens the shutters 11 by means of the lever mechanism 12, and releases thelever 55, whereby the operating wheel 45 will run upon the ground, so that the driving-wheel 20 will rotate in the direction of the arrow. Depending upon the speed of the car the operator will throw over the control lever 25 into one of its end positions, right or left. The wheel 27 now comes into engagement with the wheel 20, and, accordingly as the lever 25 has been operated, the shaft of one of the feed-wheels 13 or 14 will be driven, and the motion will be transmitted to the other feedwheel by the crossed belt 35. The gearing is such that in both cases. the feed-wheels rot-atetoward each other, from above downward. \Vhen the feed-wheels are thus rotating the operator opens the slides 4 by slowly turn ng the spider 8,the extent of opening depending .wear and tear of the guide will not prejuupon the speed at which the cart is traveling and the quantity of sand or other material to be distributed. Owing to the already described form of the shaft 6 and arrangement of the slides 4, sudden opening of the latter is avoided, so that the conveyer 9 will be loaded quite gradually. The sand transported by the conveyer will drop through the exit 10, between the blades of the wheels 13, 14 and will be scattered downwardly and laterally by the latter. In order that the distance to which the sand is thrown may be regulated, hinged deflectingflaps 56 are provided at both sides of the distributing-wheels 13, 14.

lVhen the car is driven at a rapid speed, the simple-geared transmission will suffice to impart the necessary peripheral velocity to the feedwheels for thorough distribution of the sand. If, however, the car is driven slowly, the multiple-geared transmission must be employed to insure the requisite velocity. For this purpose the diameter of the wheels 27, 28, 19 and 17 are calculated for slow speed and .that of the Wheel 27 for high speed.

The pressure of the operating-wheel 45 on the road can be adjusted by bolts 43 (Fig. 3), which connect the cross-bar 43 with the guide 40. The downward motion of the wheel-holder 41 can be regulated by a vertically adjustable stop 41 screwed to it.

For cases in which transmission of motion by means of the mechanism shown in Figs. 3 to 5 is not desired, rod-gear 57 is provided for the purpose of coupling with the chain pulley 39, wheel-gearing 58, which is mounted on the differential-gear casing.

and engages with the shaft that drives the latter gear; or of connecting a gear 59, which engages directly with a differential wheel, with the chain pulleys 37, 39. In order that in these cases also the conveyer 9 may be stopped while the cart is being driven, the belt 23 which transmits the motion of the shaft"20 to the conveyer shaft is kept slack and furnished with a tightening-device 60, which is actuated by means of a cord 61 from the o erators platform (see broken lines in Fig. 7).

Such removable distributers can be fitted on various classes of vehicles, whether motoror horse-driven, and the distributing-mechanism can be actuated automatically by coupling the driving-gear of the said mechanism with the operating-gear (40'49) on the vehicle, or with other moving parts on the vehicle (driving mechanism, wheels, shafts, etc.)

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention and in what manner the same is" to be performed, I declare that whatI claim is:

1. An apparatus for carrying and distributing sand and like material comprising tering members supplied by the conveyer, a

vertically adjustable operating 'wheel mounted on the vehicle, multiple gearing connected with the scattering members, and driving mechanism connecting the operating wheel with the multiple gearing.

2. An apparatus for carrying and distributing sand and like material comprising a vehicle, a hopper mounted thereon, a conveyer fed from the hopper, means toregulate the quantity of material fed from the hopper to the conveyer, rotatable scattering members supplied by the conveyer, a vertically adjustable operating wheel mounted on the vehicle, multiple gearing connected with the scattering members, and driving mechanism connecting the operating wheel with the multiple gearing.

3. An apparatus for distributing sand and like material comprising a vehicle, a hopper mounted there n, two feed wheels mounted in a common plane below the hop per and supplied with material from the hopper, a vertically adjustable operatingwheel mounted 011 the vehicle, multiple friction gears, means for coupling the latter with the axle of operating wheel, and means for coupling the feed wheels with either of the friction gears.

4. An apparatus for distributing sand and like material comprising a vehicle, a

hopper mounted thereon, two feed wheels' main friction wheel mounted on the shaft on each feed-wheel, an auxiliary friction wheel engaging one of the main friction wheels, an oscillatory shaft, a pair of intermediate friction wheels journaled in the latter, one of the intermediate wheels adapted to engage one of the main friction wheels and the other intermediate wheel adapted to engage the auxiliary friction wheel, and a driving friction wheel adapted to be engaged by one of said intermediate wheels.

5. An apparatus for distributing sand and like material comprising a vehicle, a hopper mounted thereon, two feed wheels mounted in the same vertical plane and supplied with material from the hopper, a cross flexible member connecting the wheels, a main friction wheel mounted on the sha ft on each feed-wheel, an auxiliary frictionwheel engaging one of the main friction wheels, an oscillatory shaft, a pair of spring urged intermediate friction wheels journaled in the latter, one of the intermediate wheels adapted to engage one of the main friction wheels and the other intermediate wheel adapted to engage the auxiliary friction wheel, and a driving friction wheel adapted to be engaged by one of said intermediate wheels simultaneously with the engagement of the latter with the auxiliary friction wheel.

6. An apparatus for distributing sand and like material comprising a vehicle, a hopper mounted thereon, two feed-wheels mounted in the same vertical planeand supplied with material from the hopperfa cross flexible member connecting the wheels, a main friction wheel mounted on the shaft on each feed-wheel, an auxiliary frictionwheel, engaging one of the main friction wheels, a drivln friction wheel, a road wheel coupled wlth the latter, a pivoted lever, and a pair of intermediate friction wheels journaled on the lever, one of said intermediate wheels adapted to engage one ofthe main friction wheels and the other intermediate wheel adapted to engage the auxiliary friction wheels.

7. An apparatus for distributing sand and like material comprising a vehicle, a hopper mounted thereon, two feed-wheels mounted in the same verticaLplane and supplied with material from the hopper, a cross flexible member connecting the wheels, a main friction wheel mounted on the shaft of each feed-wheel, anauxiliary frictionwheel engaging one of the main friction wheels, a driving friction wheel, a road wheel coupled with the latter, a pivoted lever, a pair of spring controlled intermediate friction wheels journaled on the lever, one of said intermediate wheels adapted to engage one of the main friction wheels and the other intermediate wheel adapted to engage the auxiliary friction wheel and means cooperating wit-h the lever to overcome the action of the spring which controls the intermediate friction wheels.

8. An apparatus for distributing sand .and like material comprising a portable hopper, feed wheels, means to transfer the material from the hopper to the feed wheels,

a vertically adjustable spring-controlled holder connected with the hopper, a road wheel -journaled in the holder, means for raising and lowering the holder, and means for transmitting the motion of the roadclosing said openings, a shaft varying in I diameter mounted above the partition, and flexible members connecting the slides with the shaft, said flexible members varying in length, for the purpose specified.

10. An apparatus for distributing sand and like material comprising a hopper, partitions dividing the same into an upper and a lower compartment which communicate through openings in the partition, slides closing said openings, a shaft varying in diameter mounted above the artition and flexible members connecting t e slides and shaft, the flexible members which connect the slides with the shaft at its smallest diameter being shorter than the flexible members which connect the slides with the shaft at its largest diameter.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WERNER HUBER. Witnesses:

HERBERT D. JAMESON, R.- WILSON. 

